meat meets chic at the hache burger pop-up

earlier this week i had the absolute pleasure of catching up with katy the only way we seem to ever catch up: over a ridiculous amount of food, and some bubbly wine. this time, we were excited to head to the haché (pronounced ashay) pop-up in holborn, after reading some amazing reviews about it since it opened earlier this month; having not actually been to any of the chain's other restaurants, we thought this would be a great place to start. their short-but-sweet menu was cherry picked to show off the very best of the standard menu, meaning everything listed was bound to be the best of the best.

first things first, you should probably know where to find it. it's hidden away in the basement of hush brasserie - speakeasy style, on high holborn. if you're looking for a flashing neon sign letting you know where you can find it, you won't, err, find it. because there's a sandwich board on the footpath, and some fab type over the stairs as you enter - but that's it, so know where you're going before you spend an age wandering up and down the busy road.

second things second, the menu isn't just cherry-picked, it's pretty limited. if you do what i did and check out the standard menu before heading in, you will be disappointed. there is less than half of the regular menu being made on-site at the pop-up - despite there being something there for everyone, if you're craving some sweet potato fries and a peanut butter hard shake, you will feel nothing but sadness when you soon realise that's not an option. however: prosecco is always an option.

bonus option: the black garlic hummus and charred pita bread was liiiiiiterally the tastiest thing i'd eaten all day. it really made up for the sadness brought on from the missing hardshake realisation, and was the perfect thing to nibble on while perusing the rest of the menu. top tip: get the hummus.

when the time came to order our mains, i was torn. katy was determined to order the steak le fumé (£12.95), topped with caramelised onions, smoked bacon, gruyére cheese and haché coleslaw, mainly because it comes served in a smoke filled dome at your table. i'm still not entirely sure why, but i do know that's a good enough reason to order a certain dish. wickedly, the burger i wanted - the steak louisiana (with fricken peanut butter in it ermergerrrd), wasn't on the pop-up's menu, so i went with a spur-of-the-moment decision instead.

the haché chicken club (£10.95), topped with cheddar cheese, sweet cure bacon and a fan of avocado was your standard chicken club burger. the brioche bun was sweet and tasty, and the avocado fresh and creamy, but there was nothing incredible about the burger. it's a shame they included it on the menu, as in comparison to katy's incredible smoke-filled dome burger, it was totally unremarkable. plus: even though i asked for no onion (allergies), they added onion. onion wasn't even listed on the menu, so i feel like they addedit especially, which is.. the worst kind of misunderstanding ever.

from all reports, katy's burger was the tits. it was fuuuull of onion (on purpose) so i couldn't have a taste, but it looked bloody scrummy, and was cooked perfectly to her taste (medium). we loaded up the table with some haché fries (£2.95) with aioli sauce (£1) and mixed leaf salad (£3.50), just to feel a bit better about ourselves. it toootally didn't work, because a bowl of lettuce is not my idea of burger redemption.

so, a hardshake wasn't an option, but a regular milkshake was. just the one, of course, but thankfully it was a good one; the oreo milkshake (£4.50) was thick, crunchy, and creamy as fuck, and i downed it about three mouthfuls. katy barely got a look in on that bad boy. i'm not even sorry.

so, all things considered, it was an ok experience. i wasn't sold on my burger, but the sides and shake made up for that, especially knowing the full menu in the other restaurants has things on it that make my mouth water from just reading it. i am a bit... disappointed that the menu in the pop-up is so limited, but, it hasn't put me off checking out the chain's full menu another time. so, if you're after the pop-up experience yourself, you can - momday through friday, from 12-9pm until christmas eve, eve.

you can find it beneath hush, at 95-97 high holborn, wc1v 6lf until dec 23rd!